Hidden glory

We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:16-21).

When the sky is filled with dark clouds and all the world seems gray, does the sun still shine? Of course it does—it’s just that those clouds prevent you from seeing it. But on days when the entire world seems dreary, wouldn’t it be nice if you could see the bright light that you know is shining beyond the overcast above you? Wouldn’t that cheer you up?

When your life is filled with dark clouds of disappointment and your entire world seems gray, does the light of Christ’s love still shine? Of course it does—it’s just that your frustrations prevent you from seeing it. But when aggravations make everything around you seems dreary, wouldn’t it be nice if you could see the bright light of Christ personally, like Peter, James and John did on the Mount of Transfiguration? Wouldn’t that give you hope?

As we journey through life, it often seems as if we are walking in darkness. Life is a challenge, and this world is not our friend. We look for guidance from religious organizations and protection from the court system, yet we discover that more and more of them have lost touch with God-pleasing morality. Violence, unrestrained sexual expression, substance abuse, an unhealthy fascination with making and spending money, rampant dishonesty—instead of being repulsed by such behaviors, our society enshrines them in every form of entertainment. And yet, in the midst of all this, Jesus says take heart, because I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

As we live our lives, it quickly becomes obvious that we cannot have any confidence in our ability to overcome challenges on our own. We dare not trust our own judgment, because our decision-making ability is crippled by the selfishness that influences our every thought. Hymn writer George Duffield wrote, "The arm of flesh will fail you, You dare not trust your own." And even when we go to God for advice, there is no guarantee that we can put His wisdom to work in our lives. Living a life in faith is a struggle, and we can slips backwards into old sins or fall headlong into new ones, having to deal with all their consequences. Yet St. Paul writes in Romans chapter eight, there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

And we dare not forget the devil. As if the indifference of the world to our struggles and the treachery of our weak inner nature were not enough, Satan is constantly at work, drawing our attention to the things that will destroy us in the end. He is a master manipulator, having thousands of years of practice to refine his techniques. And he is more persistent than we are; while we spread our attention among many goals, the devil focuses all his effort on one thing only—your eternal separation from God’s love. And yet with all his skill and spiritual power, James gives us reassurance: Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7).

When frustrations make our lives seem dark, we might wish for a glimpse of the glory that Peter, James and John saw. Have you ever wished that you had been born in Jesus’ time, that you could have had the opportunity to meet Him in the flesh? I have, on occasion—but then I am reminded that the religious leaders of that day mostly lined up against Jesus, opposing Him as a charlatan. Even the disciples abandoned the Lord in His greatest time of need. How could I hope to have acted better than any of them? And aside from that, why should we wish to serve the Lord in a different time and place when He has placed each of us here and now? Ephesians chapter two says, we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. You and I have been uniquely equipped by our Lord to do His will just where He has placed us.

All right, but at least couldn’t God show us some kind of proof that He’s there? Wouldn’t it be nice if Jesus would somehow show me through a miracle that He’s interested in my life personally? Such a desire gives evidence of the sin within us that taints our thinking. Hebrews chapter 11 defines faith as being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. True faith does not want or need proofs. Thomas could not bring himself to believe that Jesus was risen from the dead until he saw the Lord with his own two eyes; in response Jesus said, Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29). Many people in Jesus’ day wanted Him to perform miracles to prove Himself to them; in response the Lord said, This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah (Luke 11:29). The sign of Jonah—new life three days after being swallowed up by death. Jesus tells us that His death and resurrection is all the miracle that we need to have indisputable proof of His love for each of us!

And anyway, what good would a miracle really do us? The children of Israel witnessed ten miraculous plagues leading to their release from slavery in Egypt; they saw the Red Sea parted for their escape route; they saw bread from heaven miraculously condense out of the dew every morning to keep them fed—yet after only forty days without Moses’ leadership while he was on Mount Sinai with the Lord, they made a statue of an animal and began praying to it as their god! Miracles do not guarantee a faithful follower; they can easily lead to an attitude of "Yes, God, but what have you done for me lately?"

As Christians, we have all that we need to be confident in God’s love for us. The Transfiguration of Jesus shows us that the power and glory of heaven is available to us, but it comes hidden in the appearance of ordinary things. All of the power and glory of God was present in Christ, but with the exception of one brief moment of time, it was hidden within the ordinary looking form of the man Jesus. This teaches us the importance of looking for the divine with eyes of faith, not just physical sight.

In holy Baptism, Jesus personally makes us His own. Through the ordinary-seeming water applied with the Word of God’s promise, He gives us gifts--invisible, but very real. We are made citizens of the heavenly kingdom; our names are recorded in God’s book of life. We are adopted as Jesus’ brothers and sisters by faith, co-heirs of the kingdom of which Christ is the king, children of the Almighty. We are washed clean by the blood of Christ, blood that He poured out from the cross to wash away all of our sins and gift us with His righteousness and purity. His blood marks us as those who are redeemed, bought back from slavery to sin, death, and the devil. And baptism equips us with the power of the Holy Spirit, an invisible power that helps us to tell good from evil and strengthens us to do that which pleases God. All these blessings come from the power and glory of God hidden within the water and Word of baptism.

In holy Communion, Jesus personally strengthens our relationship with Him. Through ordinary-seeming bread and wine distributed with Jesus’ words of promise, He gives us gifts—invisible, but very real. We have repeatedly turned our backs on Jesus, traded away the purity given us in our baptism in exchange for the temporary thrills of sin. Yet when we come to our Lord with heavy hearts looking for mercy, He restores us to our baptismal grace by forgiving our sins. Jesus said, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you (Luke 22:20). Through Jesus’ blood, invisibly given us in the wine, we are brought back to God through the new covenant, the offer from God by which Jesus traded us His life in exchange for our death. Jesus also said, I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh (John 6:51). Jesus miraculously gives us Himself through the bread that we might be strengthened to live in a wholesome relationship with Him here in life, and be assured of unending life together with Him in paradise. At the Lord’s Supper we eat with Jesus who is unseen, yet we celebrate His presence through the bread and wine. The Lord promised you His own body and blood at the Last Supper, and sealed its covenant with His lifeblood shed on the cross of Good Friday as your guarantee.

Through the words of holy Scripture, God works to make our faith secure. The prophets of the Old Testament spoke hopefully of the Savior who would one day come, but Peter, James & John saw the reality of what had been foretold; Peter writes, we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it. Peter and his associates personally witnessed what Moses, Elijah, and the others had looked forward to, so their eye witness accounts showing Jesus as the Son of God only strengthens the hope offered us by the prophets of old. The Bible, Old and New Testaments together, is the tool used by the Holy Spirit to work a great, invisible miracle within each one of us—the miracle of belief in a Savior we cannot see but who died and rose again to make us His own, and to whom we dedicate our lives.

It is through the dedication of our lives to Jesus that the invisible shows itself visibly. You cannot see the wind, but you can see the effects of the wind on everything around you. Just so, the God who works invisibly within us shows evidence of His presence through how we live our lives.

Jesus shows Himself in your life when you have been brought down by the uncaring world, the allurements of Satan, and the betrayal of your own personal weakness. Instead of giving in to despair over your failures, you have the peace of knowing that every sin, no matter how awful, will be forgiven everyone who asks Jesus to wash them clean with His blood. Instead of nursing a grudge for those who have hurt you, you experience the release of forgiving others as you yourself have been forgiven. For the Christian, each day begun in humble prayer is a new day, a day not weighed down by the guilt of the past.

Jesus shows Himself in your life by your attitude towards life and death. At the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah are seen to be eternally alive and distinct from each other. For us, death is an unpleasant reality, but it is not terrifying. We know that our souls will not disappear forever, nor will we lose our personal identity. Instead, when we die, we will go to the place where we will be privileged to see Jesus in all His godly glory and power forever. And so, when you mourn the death of a fellow believer, you do not grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). You know that your separation is only temporary, because Jesus promised: Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be (John 12:26). All who serve Jesus will follow Him who rose from the grave and now lives forever in paradise.

And Jesus shows Himself in your life through your attitude towards others. In our uncaring world, we are expected to keep our religion to ourselves. But filled with the love of Christ, we overflow with love for others—a love that wants everyone we know to experience the joy of being washed clean of guilt by Christ, a love that wants to spare them from eternity following death separated in hell from God’s love. And so you do the hard thing, the thing that our sinful world hates—you speak of Christ crucified to those who do not know Him. You donate your time and skills to helping others, building relationships that will create opportunities to speak of the hope that fills you. You donate your money to supporting the work of the Lord’s church at home and abroad. You pray for those who have no relationship with Jesus, that they might see the light of His love. Most importantly, you invite others to meet your Savior—invite them to come with you to church, or to join you in reading and reflecting on God’s Book together. We are Jesus’ hands and voice, reaching out to others in love.

The next time life seems to be an uphill battle and you’re not getting much in the way of help from your family, much less the world around you, don’t put God in their category. When friends you can see disappoint you, start looking with the eyes of faith. In His crucifixion Jesus has done everything to make right your relationship with God. His Transfiguration reminds you of how near the power of heaven can be, even though it goes unseen. Jesus is close to you, to apply all that He did on the cross to your life, and to reassure you of the final victory over sin, death, and the devil that is yours in heaven.